Why does belief matter?

belief determine how you live….

You live what you believe, if you believe nothing then you live that too…...

many things that many people believe in are merely nothing…

Finding that which is something and believing in it is when you start living life.

It is single simple and all is aware of it but most will never acknowlege it unless it work only for their benefit.

I judge people based on “how you conduct yourself in life and how you treat other people”.

Belief matters because life doesn’t.

I’m not sure you can separate belief and conduct in such a definite way. Belief is the major determinant of attitude, and attitude is a major determinant of the way people act and react to their circumstances. A purely ends-based system would not allow for the higher levels of thinking that are inevitable for an intelligent person.

I believe that reason and experimentation are the keys to understanding the universe, and this belief affects the way I approach learning. The problem with religious belief is that it is erroneous, is not based on a sound foundation of reason, and the application of these erroneous ideas leads to undesirable results.

@FireMadeFlesh Agree. The problem I have with belief is that it’s all too often based upon fantasy. It doesn’t even have to be belief in God, which interestingly enough I don’t have much of a problem with (as long as the believer also accepts the validity of science). But when someone tries to tell me about the benefits of Mona Vie, or homeopathy, or astrology, I get my ire up.

You don’t have to be lovers with someone to see much or most of the person. We live in cultures where people are very receded into themselves, or else just entirely shallow (I’m not sure if people can be truly shallow, but many appear to be.) But if I believed in god, my relationships with even people I barely know would be different. I try to put all of myself into what I say. I think the world will only improve if more people do that. And if more people did do that, their beliefs would be very relevant in almost all of their acquaintances.

Belief in what?

@ipso purple buffalo

If it matters how you conduct yourself in life and how you treat other people God does not have to enter into the equation but if He does does that matter either.Treating others as you wish to be treated should not have to include excluding belief in a higher power. Treating others as you wish to be treated should not have to include including belief in a higher power.
Fighting over belief is side stepping the result that it is I who is expected to be moral in all that I do. End of story.

PS
For those who believe; their beliefs should hold no matter if another believes or not. You can discuss and cuss them good naturedly. If you have to shout and bluster, you simply are not secure in your belief.
A belief should be shared with joy and constant updating and openmindedness. Oppostiion only gives you new ways to think and consider. Belief is not a mandate of rightousness.
PPS
Homeopathy, or astrology are science and have been proven by science, why should those subjects bother you. Study them and you will see. Instead of getting your ire up, get curious and discuss. Save your ire for willful badness. The sins that the golden rule and the ten commandments cover that are willfully done to hurt others for personal gain.

Belief in God doesn’t matter whether one has it or not. Not to me, anyway. I wouldn’t care if people didn’t push their god beliefs into policy.

@MaryW Homeopathy, or astrology are science and have been proven by science
Please show me where they have been proven by science.

@Rarebear I agree that beliefs are too often based on fantasy, but I don’t see that as any reason to actively avoid the natural human process of believing a concept. Homeopathy and astrology are actively dangerous, potentially in a greater capacity than some religions even, but they should be argued with reference to the concepts themselves, not the whole process of belief. That is just too radical a change.

@FireMadeFlesh Perhaps. But if you can change the process of belief within those who believe in the paranormal, and change them into scientific critical thinkers, then it will all fall into place after that.

@Rarebear Of course, which is why I really like Richard Dawkins’ wish to translate his books into Arabic, since teaching science and particularly evolution can be key to breaking down some ignorant and fallacious beliefs. However some people would still class the scientific mindset as a belief in rationality and logic, which is why I don’t think getting rid of belief all together is a good idea. I support any measure that seeks to encourage critical thinking and rational analysis of the world around us though, so maybe we want the same thing but are using different terminology.

(@zophu – Purple eh?)

I had a girlfriend some time back whose family were Norwegian. From what I can tell there was not one drop of religion or American Puritanism in them, but they were, by far, the nicest people/family I’ve ever met. A “real” nice. They were not following some nice-script on how to act, they responded to you. You responding to them, not some fish-eyed God person staying “in character”. (Not all Christians are that way, but I find the VERY serious ones are – to a person.)

So I agree with what is implied in the OP.

Religions should be relegated to human guidance, not otherworldly holy truth. (NOTW – Heaven’s Gate-esq type stuff.)

How you conduct yourself and treat others: valor, honesty, niceness, empathy, decency, integrity, camaraderie, bushido, personal responsibility, turning a cheek, humility, love, loving others, etc. etc. etc. are praxis that transcend and outdate all of the modern religious doctrine. Ancient praxis from which they drew upon.

It is said that the devil’s greatest trick was convincing people that God does not exist.

Well I say the Lord’s greatest trick was convincing people He was the only game in town – where common notions (like being “nice”) somehow became solely attributable to Him, as if these could not even be conceivable in a world without Him. Just silliness.

@ipso The purple buffalo hunted by Atreyu’s people. I believe. If I didn’t, the Nothingness would take over Fantasia again. . .

I watched Neverending Story with my little brothers yesterday. I’d like to use that as an excuse, but it was my idea, and they’re seventeen.

I’m still waiting for @MaryW to show me where homeopathy and astrology are proven by science.

@Rarebear They wouldn’t sell it at Wholefoods if it wasn’t legit, right?

@zophu – errrr – you’re making me watch it again. On Netflix instant play. Whole move is also on Youtube.

@Rarebear You may be waiting a while.